1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the development and testing of vehicles and, in particular, to the development and testing of spacecraft systems.
2. Background
Currently-available methods for developing and testing vehicles, such as air, water, and land-based vehicles, typically involve both running computer simulations and testing prototypes. However, running computer simulations may be more time consuming than desired. Further, computer simulations may simplify many of the complexities of the actual system being tested.
Similarly, prototype testing may be more expensive than desired. For example, a prototype vehicle may only be capable of flying a limited number of hours and in a limited number of conditions due to factors, such as operating costs, logistical issues, safety regulations, flight regulations, and/or other factors.
A system that allows the development and testing of algorithms and configurations for vehicles to be performed more rapidly and accurately as compared to currently-available methods may be desirable. Further, a system that reduces the cost for the development and testing of algorithms and configurations for vehicles as compared to currently-available methods also may be desirable.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.